


Like it's your birthday

by BrokenTailLights



Category: 5 Seconds of Summer (Band)
Genre: Cashton, M/M, and ash has some confessing to do, it's nearly cal's birthday, muke is v slightly hinted at, not even i know if muke is a thing in this, that's up to you
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-03-06
Updated: 2016-03-06
Packaged: 2018-05-24 23:50:08
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,267
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6171682
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/BrokenTailLights/pseuds/BrokenTailLights
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>"Maybe 20 will make you less oblivious"<br/>Calum sighs, the red on Ashton's cheeks going unnoticed, as well as the warning look he throws towards the guitarist,<br/>"Stop fucking around with my mind, Mike" Calum groans</p><p>or<br/>Calum's nearly 20, and Ashton is starting to realise a few things</p>
            </blockquote>





	Like it's your birthday

**Author's Note:**

  * For [wetshoes](https://archiveofourown.org/users/wetshoes/gifts).



> So this is what happens when I suddenly become obsessed with Cashton thanks to Rachel (where all my obsessions somehow seem to start) - during Calum's birth week, and I end up spending a good month perfecting my own contribution to the cashton ship. This is my first Cashton thing, and 90% of it was written at 2 am, so I apologise for any indecency
> 
> (Title taken and slightly altered from Good Charlotte's 'Like It's Her Birthday')

"Morning" Ashton chirps, sliding a plastic, disposable cup of water across the kitchen counter along with a painkiller. The band had stopped using glasses when they realised that washing up was a thing that came with it, and was also a thing they weren't prepared to constantly do.  
  
A sort of grunt leaves Calum's mouth after he's swallowed the Aleve, and Ashton accepts it as a response to his greeting.  
The kiwi boy proceeds to hold a palm to his forehead, face scrunching up in a way that shows he's about to complain about something,  
  
"I'm fucking hungover"   
  
Ashton snorts, walking over to slap a hand to the bassist's shoulder,  
"Those are your own consequences, my friend"  
  
"Well why the fuck aren't you?" Calum demands. Ashton's noticed how he tends to be more vulgar when he's annoyed,  
  
"Water between each drink" He shrugs "I've told you guys to do it- works every time- but you all want to be stupid and reckless"  
  
Calum rolls his eyes, shrugging Ashton's hand off his shoulder, as he glares at him,  
"Is this what it's like to be 20? Because if so, I hope I die tomorrow."  
  
Ashton laughs, a sound of amusement as well as mockery,  
  
"No. This is what it's like to be 21" He clarifies, before gesturing over to the lounge area  _"That_ is what it's like to be 20"  
  
Calum turns to face a half-naked Michael, PS4 controller in hand and a very concentrated look on his face as he pushes at the buttons- eyes trained on the TV. From what Calum can see, he's losing pretty badly at a game of FIFA.  
  
Calum looks between his two bandmates before shutting his eyes and leaning his forehead against the coolness of the fridge,  
"I don't want to be either" He mutters.

Michael's eyes flicker over to the younger boy before smirking,  
"Maybe 20 will make you less oblivious"   
  
Calum sighs, the red on Ashton's cheeks going unnoticed, as well as the warning look he throws towards the guitarist,  
  
"Stop fucking around with my mind, Mike" Calum groans, before grabbing another glass of water and trudging upstairs. Ashton shoots the blond boy a final glare before following after Calum.  
  
This time, it’s Michael's smug smirk that goes unnoticed.

***

Every night, before Ashton falls asleep, his mind recaps his schedule for tomorrow. It's a habit he developed when they first started touring, and he's glad it's stuck because it's saved his ass so many times.  
  
However, that night he lies in bed, and he lies confused. His eyes won't close, despite going over his tomorrow schedule at least four times now, and he's annoyed because he needs all the sleep he can get considering tomorrow night is Calum's birthday night, and he really doubts he'll be getting much sleep then. Even so, his eyes refuse to close and his mind continues to wonder, and Ashton decides to think about his day instead. His day had consisted of lying around the house doing nothing, eating from the previous day's takeaway cartons, and nearly throwing up every time Calum walked in the room. He promised himself he'd tell Calum everything that was on his mind, however as soon as the brunet boy would enter the room, Ashton's mouth felt like metal and his tongue jammed like glue, which made it impossible to even get the words out. Michael had been throwing so many not so subtle hints it was a wonder Calum hadn't caught on yet, but Ashton was content to leave it at that- if  _that_  was a form of rejection.  
  
His mind lands on the fact that he should probably get Calum a birthday present; even though that was something they didn't really  _do_ as a band. For his 21st, Calum had gotten him some pretty cool shirts, however, so he supposed he could maybe look around the shops tomorrow. And maybe he could use it to confess the mess in his mind. Maybe.

He isn't surprised when his body clock wakes at 8 am, because even though they're on a break right now, his mind seems to enjoy waking up at ridiculous hours pretty much every day.  
Rather than forcing himself back to sleep (like he does pretty much every day) Ashton slumps out of bed and uses the bathroom and then bounces down the stairs- surprised to see an all too familiar blond in the kitchen.  
  
"You're up early" Luke comments, turning away from buttering his toast for a second to glance at Ashton. The older boy nods, deciding to ransack the cupboards for cereal and the fridge for milk which- thankfully- isn't gone yet. If he had woken up an hour later, cereal would probably not have been on the menu.  
  
"I could say the same for you" He replies, fixing his breakfast before joining Luke at the table with his bowl "Why are you up?"  
  
Luke shrugs, although Ashton doesn't miss the hint of red in his cheeks,  
"Just meeting up with someone" He mumbles. Ashton suddenly grins,  
  
"Brunette from the bar?"  
  
"Maybe."  
  
The shorter boy swallows his laughter as he continues to munch on his cereal, amused by Luke's inability to keep a secret.  
"Why are  _you_ up?" The blond repeats Ashton's question, who simply shrugs in response,  
  
"Figured I'd get Cal something for his 20th tomorrow"  _I also couldn't sleep because Calum Hood has been on my mind all day, and when I try to escape him at night, he appears in my dreams._  
  
"Just suck his dick or something" Luke suggests casually, and Ashton is suddenly choking on his breakfast.  
  
_"What?"_  
  
"I'm sure he wouldn't complain" He continues, not at all fazed by his own absurd suggestion.  
  
Ashton manages to finally get his head together and lifts his middle finger in response. Luke simply snorts,  
"Only a suggestion" He teases, and there's a pause in which Ashton  _knows_ what he's going to say before it's said "Don't act like you wouldn't enjoy it"  
  
The elder boy scowls, standing up from his seat and concluding that there's only so much time a person can spend with Luke Hemmings before they feel like ripping out their hair. That could explain why Michael is balding.  
  
"I'm not sucking his dick Luke" Ashton huffs before leaving the kitchen. He misses the wicked smile now plastered on Luke's face- and it's a good job he does.  
  


***

It irritates Ashton that the shops are jam packed with people. Sure, it's Sunday afternoon, but shouldn't everyone- he doesn't know- be in church or something?  
He manages to weave his way through the masses of people and stops at a Sports store, figuring he'll definitely find something Calum-worthy in there. After all, Calum Hood is always looking to try new activities, whether it be the sport of golf or the art of Mosaics, he's outgoing and adventurous- growing bored of things quickly and never settling for long. He works at every task quickly however; he takes his time with everything he does, never acting in a careless fashion. But once he's done,  _he's done,_ and he's quickly hopping to the next, new thing he wants to try.  
  
Ashton believes that this is one of the many reasons why he feels such a rush when he's around the younger boy; his spontaneity leaves everyone around him feeling breathless and woken in a new life. That's just the impact Calum Hood has on people.  
  
Indifferent to his plans, Ashton fails to find a single thing in the Sports shop that is 'Calum-worthy.' He files through countless sports equipment, shirts, brands, and finds  _nothing_  that he can imagine giving to the boy in honour of his 20th. Ashton begins to grow excessively impatient after a full forty minutes have passed and he's searched the entire store yet still found nothing. Ten of those forty minutes were spent rummaging through a display of footballs, however none of them looked particularly  _nice_ enough to wrap up and hand over to his bandmate.   
  
Ashton eventually gives up on the idea of a gift, and exits the store- noticing the exact reason why none of them ever bother with presents at Christmas. It's so _aggravating._  
When he does finally manage to clear his head with a bit of fresh air, he decides to grab a snack from one of the various stands, wondering whether he should just go home or buy Calum a random shirt or something. He knows there's a store that sells personalised stuff, and even though he's pretty sure the younger boy owns many LFC shirts with his surname printed on the back (considering when the team changes their kit, he always changes his own) Ashton figures he can get him a Manchester United shirt as a joke.   
  
He pauses, however, when he spots a Claire's opposite the doughnut stand, and he briefly contemplates between powdered dough and his potential crush before he crosses the street and enters the accessory store.

***

Ashton is pretty much buzzing, as he stands outside the wooden door in the hallway. _It's only Calum,_ he thinks to himself, although everything seems to be a little different right now, and Only Calum has morphed into Only Calum With Gorgeous Eyes And A Beautiful Face in his jumbled mind. He really shouldn't be _this_ nervous to hand over a present, considering the gift isn't even anything extraordinarily expensive, but everything always seems so much more valuable when the recipient means a little bit more to you. Even so, Ashton realises that if he doesn't enter soon, either Michael or Luke will come barging in any second, and he would really like to do this alone.   
  
So, he knocks softly on the bedroom door, before cracking it open a little to see Calum sitting on the sofa. He sits on the edge, one hand in his dark hair, the other scrolling through his phone, pausing every few seconds to double tap before continuing its scrolling journey. Ashton is intrigued.  
  
"Hey" He says softly, before walking over, and Calum pockets his phone and smiles brightly,  
  
"Hi" he greets back- the smile throwing Ashton off guard, because it's genuine and all teeth and no lies and since when did Calum think that Ashton was deserving enough to receive a smile of such pure gold?   
  
"I- uh I got you something" Ashton says quickly, settling next to the bassist. Calum looks shocked and almost confused for a second, and Ashton understands why; because gifts aren't really a thing that happens in their band. If they find something another member might find admirable, they buy it and hand it over, more like an exchange rather than a present. They definitely don't bother with wrapping it up and placing silvery bows all over it. Ashton understands Calum's temporary state of shock, because honestly, he's not really sure what he's doing himself.  
  
Suddenly, Calum is grinning again, although it's cheeky this time, and he looks a bit excited,  
"Okay, can I have it?"  
  
Ashton nods, before pulling out the small package from his pocket and handing it over.  
  
Calum's looking all confused again, and Ashton really wants to take a picture, and possibly upload it somewhere on the internet, so that it can be found when people search terms such as _puppy_ and _adorable_ and possibly _love of Ashton’s entire life_.  
  
"Is it a condom?" He asks slowly, taking the package and Ashton panics because oh god,  _somehow_ his packing procedure makes it look an awful lot like a condom.  
  
"No!" He says quickly "No uh, it's an actual gift"  
  
Calum laughs, muttering something about how he'd class a condom as an actual gift, and laughing harder when Ashton nudges him a little roughly.  
  
Finally, Calum pulls off the wrapping paper, and he stares at the little liquid bottle in his hand.  
  
"Nail polish?" He asks. Ashton suddenly feels very small.  
  
"Y-you've been wearing it recently, and I- well I heard you complaining about how you'd nearly ran out. I think the colour will look good on you, and I mean I know it's just black, but it's like a  _nice_  black and well..." He trails off, not sure if Calum's listening- half hoping he's  _not_  listening.   
  
Calum laughs, finally looking up from the bottle and smiling,  
  
"Thanks, Ash" he pauses and then "Can you do my right hand?"  
  
Ashton is more than happy to coat the nails on Calum's right hand with metallic black nail polish.   
  
So, he settles next to him, placing Calum's hand on his knee, before unscrewing the cap of the small bottle and pulling out the wand. The younger boy doesn't pay much attention to him, whilst he swipes over the first few nails, and by the time he gets to the little finger he looks up to see the him on his phone, attempting to type one-handed, wrong-handed.   
  
"Hey Cal" Ashton calls, because well he wants his attention. Ashton always wants Calum's attention.  
  
Calum looks over and grins at the boy before responding,  
"Yeah?"  
  
"This okay?" Ashton asks anxiously, and swipes his tongue over his bottom lip. Calum looks down at his right hand and beams, eyebrows raised in complete amusement but eyes shining with satisfaction,  
  
"Wow, you're a pro" He grins, and Ashton can't help but grin back proudly. He decides that if he could only do one thing for the rest of his life (apart from the boy himself) it would be making Calum Hood happy.   
  
"C-can you do my left, too?" Calum is hesitant this time, and it's a new look on him, altered to the naturally confident aura that he carries.  
  
"Sure" Ashton agrees, before going over to the other side of Calum. He takes his left hand and expects himself to do it more quickly than the first, considering he's got the hang of it now, but- Calum Hood looks so beautiful from this angle. Ashton suddenly begins to wish he was an artist with actual talent, because Calum's side profile is something definitely worth brushing over a blank canvas. He isn't quite sure whether it's the strong facial structure, or the soft-looking, large lips that frown in concentration as he stares straight ahead (unable to use his right hand, because of Ashton's settling hard work). Either way, Ashton is positive that the boy next to him is the absolute archetype of beauty.

"Finished?" Calum asks suddenly, and Ashton's cheeks go red as his hands slip and a black streak is painted across the bassist's hand.  
  
"I uh-" He stutters, unsure of what to say, as Calum laughs lightly, taking the brush from his hand.  
  
"You okay, Ash?" He asks, delicately finishing the job that Ashton had started.   
  
He doesn't respond right away, too engrossed in the look of concentration that is now etched over Calum's face.  
Ashton realises, in that moment, that no matter what time of day it is, whatever city they’re in, and whatever he’s doing- Calum looks beautiful. When he wakes up in the morning, and there's sleep in his eyes, grit in his voice and annoyance in his tone, Calum looks beautiful. When he works around the kitchen for a late breakfast, stumbling through drawers he should know like the back of his hand by now, grumbling about people who put empty cartons back in the fridge- only to do the same himself- and in the end, grabbing his jacket and heading out for breakfast, Calum is beautiful. When he walks down astir commercial streets in the morning cold, his eyes still not functioning completely correctly, because a full hour hasn't yet passed since they first opened, and the wind ruffles his hair, and the cold turns his nose red, and he grumbles some more about wanting to go home, Calum is beautiful. And as he sets out to do his daily tasks, whether that be tuning his bass or coating his nails in lacquer, there's always a face full of concentration, resulting in a flawless end result, and Calum is beautiful.

Said boy seems a lot closer all of a sudden, because Ashton can now see all this beauty of skin freckles and eye speckles, the combination of both elaborating on the flawless flaws of the boy in front of him. He isn't quite sure why exactly he has shifted closer, but the decreasing distance isn't uncomfortable, in fact, he's wishing Calum will pull  _even closer_  if possible.

Calum stares at Ashton for a few brief seconds, licking his lips and raising his eyebrows, ever so slightly- although the challenging expression is evident, despite Ashton being absolutely confused as to what he is being challenged to.  
Then, suddenly there's more than a vision of dotted flaws, there's lips against his, a small weight against his mouth, and his eyes are closed, but he can smell minty breath and taste something wonderful.  
Ashton feels the small bottle descend to his lap, and then Calum's hands are on the top of his thighs, his own pulling the brunet closer by the neck, as he opens his mouth invitingly and Calum's tongue licks into it.

They kiss until Ashton feels like he's going to pass out, as there's only so many times a person can breathe through their nose, so he's the first to pull back, and when he does; Calum's smiling.   
  
Caught by the contagious, Ashton finds himself smiling back, and although words like  _relationship_ ,  _work_  and  _responsibility_  are swarming in the back of his mind, the thought of Calum outshines them all, and so he decides to concentrate on the brightest star for the time being.   
  
Calum leans forward once more, his hands cupping Ashton's face ever so gently, before moving forward and pressing their foreheads together.  
  
"Thanks for the gift, Ash" he says, with a cheeky grin. Ashton grins back before providing a reply,  
  
"Happy birthday, Cal"

***  
They're backstage for a TV show, that somehow nudged its way into their break, and even though they had enjoyed their time off, they were starting to miss the music scene, so a quick talk show doesn't really feel like a burden.  
  
They've been in the dressing room for over an hour now, and Ashton isn't even sure why, but the room holds plenty of things to keep them occupied, so he doesn't really mind being cooped up there.

"I'm making another video!" Michael announces, and Calum groans in annoyance, never one to voluntarily place his presence in Michael's impetuous content.   
  
Michael pulls open the Snapchat app, and holds his finger over the record button, everyone waiting for whatever random sentence will emerge from his mouth. They often have to play along, you see.

"Lashton's dead!" He calls, camera travelling from Ashton's sudden confused expression, to Luke's mocking angry one,  
  
"Lashton's fucking alive" He defends, and Ashton resists the urge to roll his eyes. Realising that the camera isn't on him at that moment, he does so. "Tell them Ashton" Luke continues.  
  
Ashton pauses, before taking a quick glance over at his pouting boyfriend in the corner of the room. Calum eyes him pointedly, waiting for his next words, but also challenging him to say them.  
  
Although he'll never admit it, it's one of his favourite looks on the younger boy- the exacting one; that often creeps up in interviews or whilst they're on stage, because Ashton is frequently faced with questions or scenarios he'd much prefer to avoid, and Calum is always,  _always_  eager to find out  _how_  he will avoid them.  
  
Ashton manages to look into the camera once it's swivelled back to him, and attempting to look careless, he confirms,  
"Dead."

 


End file.
